Say hello to the one beauty product you need to buy in 2018

Take a peek in your make-up bag and count every piece of plastic. Head to your bathroom and do exactly the same. How much of it is from recycled sources? Is it even recyclable? We’ve just done the same thing with the Stylist beauty cupboard, and we’re reeling.

One company restoring our faith that all this litter can be avoided, and reversed, is Ren Clean Skincare. The brand is striving to stop its products joining the 15.8 million tonnes of plastic waste the EU produces every year, thanks to a customised ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ initiative that aims to make the rest of the industry sit up, take notice, and hopefully do the same.

The new Atlantic Kelp and Magnesium Anti-Fatigue Body Wash, £22, is part of an innovative range packaged entirely in recycled plastic – with 20% of it having been pulled out from the ocean. Read on for our favourite aspects of the bottle, and find out why it’s a piece of plastic you can be proud to have sitting in your shower.

The grey bottle isn’t just for aesthetics – it’s proof that different coloured plastic has been recycled. In the recycling process, white and clear plastics have a higher value because they produce a more transparent material. Ren decided to take any plastic, which is why the bottle has a grey tint.

The Material

It’s completely and totally 100% made from recycled plastic. And 20% is plastic reclaimed from the eight million tonnes that enter the ocean every year (as well as from beaches, rivers and lakes). The remaining 80% comes from empty plastic bottles. And almost the entire bottle can be recycled a second time (except the pump). No mean feat.

The Pump

The little metal springs have been left out of this pump, a key component that otherwise wouldn’t allow for the bottle to be 100% sourced from recycled materials. The bellows eliminate the need for a spring, sucking up the gel as the pump is released. Genius.

The Product

The ingredients are consciously harvested, too. Atlantic sea kelp is farmed annually on the eastern coast of Canada, where a strong tide brings in a lot of nutrients that are lost to other coastal regions. All the harvesters are trained in marine life and use specialised tools that won’t disrupt the ecosystem.